The morning started in an uncomfortable stillness; the type that seemed to presage something much worse than daily life. Noah departed early, his attitude as cautious as it had been during our meeting with Victor. The picture still tormented me, its terrible message hanging in every peaceful moment.
Crutching my coffee like a lifeline, I stood at the kitchen counter as the intercom chimed suddenly. My chest became constricted. Noah wouldn't be returning soon, and we weren't expecting anyone.
I pressed the button carefully as I went towards the intercom.
"Who is it?" asks
Island. On the other side, the voice shivered my spine coldly. " Markus here. We must discuss.
Every feeling shouted at me to close the door, to turn away and act as if I had not heard him. But his tone stopped me. Something about it. One is afraid? desperation? Perhaps it was my own stubbornness.
I opened the door just enough to catch his recognisable face. He looked different—dishevelled, his typical haughtiness replaced by something darker.
"What are you doing here, Markus? " I asked steadily, retaining the same tone.
"I have to talk to you," he added, his voice lowering now. Please, just listen to me out.
"You have five minutes," I murmured, sludgingly moving aside and closed the door behind him.
Markus looked about the apartment with softly disguised interest. "Good location. Blackwood is treating you well, I noted.
"This is not a social call," I said. "Get right on it."
He groaned and ran a hand over his hair. "I screwed, Isla." I can't get it out of my brain; I've been wondering about us—about how things ended.
Though I refused to let him see the fissures, his comments really touched a chord. "That's not my issue anymore."
Perhaps not, he said, his voice softening. Still, I never stopped worrying about you. And the idea of you being imprisoned in a fictitious marriage to him bothers me.
I looked at him, my wrath seething under surface level. You know nothing about my marriage, Markus. And you are the final person scheduled to speak about relationships.
He trembled, the weight of my words firmly on his shoulders. "Isla, I made errors." I understand that. But this—what you are doing with Blackwood—it is not you.
"You don't know me anymore," I fired back, crossing my arms.
Markus moved nearer; his face sincere. Then explain to me I'm mistaken. Tell me you are pleased with him.
I stopped; the words caught in my throat. Not just to him but also to me, the reality was muddy, convoluted, and difficult to articulate.
Bitterly moving back, he muttered, "Exactly what I thought." "Isla, you belong nowhere in his universe. And I doubt that you even want to.
The door opened before I could reply, Noah entering the room and his presence filling it right away. His eyes rested on Markus, and his face darkened into something frigid and deadly.
"What the heck is he doing here?" Noah insisted, his voice cutting and low.
Markus straightened, his confidence erasing beneath Noah's close inspection. "Blackwood, Blackwood: Relax." I am just chatting with Isla right now.
"Your conversation is over," Noah replied, his voice devoid of any possibility for debate.
Markus turned to face me, looking begging. "Isla, you need not allow him rule everything. You are deserving of much more than this.
Noah moved between us, his stance emitting silent threat, before I could reply. "Get out, Markus," said Present now.
Markus paused, his jaw stiffening. Noah thought twice, however, because of something in his eyes. He turned and went without more remark after one last glance at me.
Noah glanced to me as the door closed; his face was insensible. "What was he doing here?" said.
"He just showed up," I stated with tense voice. "I did not invite him."
"And yet, you let him in," he remarked, his tone more exact than I would have liked.
I became offended at his charge. "I was not going to discount him."
"You should have," he shot, raking a hand over his hair. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to let someone like him back into your life?"
"Dang Dangerous?" I repeated, resentment building in my breast. " Noah, he is not harmful. He is just—
"A liability," Noah said, his voice frigid. And liabilities cause injury to others.
His words made me shiver down my back. Is this not about Markus, then?
Noah's jaw clenched, and for a split second I believed he may tell me the truth. Instead, he turned aside, his barriers slamming back into alignment.
That evening, my phone rang with a message as I attempted to sort things. From Grace came it.
Respect: Found Markus outside of your building earlier. All good?
My stomach whirled. Markus had been loitering around long before he knocked on my door.
Me: He showed up without invitation. Left behind when Noah got here.
Grace: Watch carefully, Isla. He is not as innocuous as first seems.
Although her warning made me uncomfortable, I had little time to consider it. Noah's voice cut through my ideas.
He replied, moving into the living room, "We need to talk."
Bracing myself for another fight, I raised my head to him. " Regarding Markus?"
"No," he answered, his voice lower now. "About us."
Noah took a seat across from me, his face remarkably open. I saw weakness in his eyes for the first time since this entire setup started.
"I have not told you some things," he said, his voice low. " Things you ought to know."
As I looked at him, a thousand questions whirled in my head and my heart hammered. I was at last going to find whatever secrets Noah had been keeping.
Alternatively I thought.